Category: Latest News

The Coalition urges supporters of the NMTC to reach out to their members of Congress and urge them to make the NMTC a permanent part of the tax code. Bipartisan extension legislation will be introduced soon. Updated target lists are available on our advocacy page.

As is customary, members of the Senate Finance Committee submitted written questions to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin following his confirmation hearing on January 19th. Senators Wyden, Cardin, Cantwell, and Brown probed the Trump Administration's interest in the NMTC in the context of both tax reform and Trump's interest in revitalizing low income urban neighborhoods and rural towns. Mnuchin did not commit one way or the other on the NMTC or other tax credits, as is expected at the beginning of a tax reform process, but rather, promised to review the NMTC and to ensure that tax reform benefits long-distressed communities. Below, find the written questions and Mnuchin's answers. Senator Ron Wyden During the campaign, the President often expressed his intention to bring jobs and investment back to low income, high unemployment rural communities,…

Last month, the CDFI Fund awarded $7 billion in NMTC allocation. Where will that allocation be deployed? We have a decent idea, thanks to new data on state targeting from the CDFI Fund. Heatmap of 2015/2016 Allocation Targeting The heatmap above shows where CDEs are targeting their 2015/2016 allocation. But it tells a misleading story, with high population states receiving more NMTC allocation. Rather than adjusting on a per capita basis, instead, I divided targeted amount of NMTC allocation by the number of NMTC eligible census tracts in a state (download the full dataset). That produces this reweighted heatmap. Adjusted Heatmap - States Targeted by 2015/2016 NMTC Allocation Round In the adjusted map, you can see that the top states are Arkansas, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and Wisconsin. In fact,…

Today, the NMTC Coalition is excited to release a new report showcasing NMTC success stories from every state and the District of Columbia. These profiles from each state show the flexibility of the NMTC and demonstrate its ability to drive and leverage capital in investment-starved communities, creating economic opportunities and jobs in our country’s poorest rural communities and urban neighborhoods. Every four years, the Coalition releases this report, which serves as an important tool for educating new Administrations and new Members of Congress. The 2016 edition of the NMTC at Work report features 89 NMTC projects, ranging from rural to urban, from grocery stores, health care centers and community centers to manufacturing businesses and charter schools, as well as many other important projects identified by community leaders. These profiles from…

[caption id="attachment_7430" align="alignright" width="223"] Jennifer Smith, a registered nurse at NMTC-financed Kootenai Medical Center in Coeur D'Alene, ID takes blood samples from a patient. Coeur D'Alene has a poverty rate above 35 percent.[/caption] Because of a dearth of available capital, residents of low-income communities often lack adequate access to state of the art healthcare facilities that more affluent communities take for granted. Income is strongly linked to health outcomes, so the need is greater in high-poverty neighborhoods. In high poverty urban areas, safety-net hospitals, which a significant level of care to low-income, uninsured, and vulnerable populations are stretched thin. And in small towns and rural farming communities, since 2010, 71 rural hospitals have closed and another 683 are at risk of closing — limiting access to care and further depressing…

Today, the US Census Bureau released their annual report on poverty and income. Economists predicted an increase of 1 to 2 percent in incomes in 2015, but the report showed a surprising 5.2 percent increase. A closer look at the data reveals a stark contrast between the economy in urban and rural communities. Urban Areas on the Rise [caption id="attachment_7411" align="alignright" width="516"] Over the past 8 years, rural and urban economies have generally exhibited similar economic trends. However, in 2015, there was a sharp divergence (see above).[/caption] Inside of metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), median incomes grew by 6 percent. Much of that growth was confined to cities dwellers, whose incomes rose by 7.3 percent compared to suburban and exurban residents, whose incomes rose by a more modest 4 percent. This is the largest…

The project created jobs and expanded access to fresh food in a Minneapolis food desert U.S. Department of the Treasury Secretary Jack Lew traveled to Minneapolis on Monday to meet with community and business leaders to highlight initiatives aimed at supporting financial inclusion. On his tour, he visited Seward Community Cooperative Friendship Store, a fresh foods project financed in part by the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) and by a loan from MMCDC with federal Community Economic Development funds, a program that targets job creation for low income individuals. Also in attendance yesterday afternoon was Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN), who is a longtime supporter of the credit and a cosponsor of bipartisan legislation to make the NMTC a permanent financial tool for economically distressed rural and urban communities. “By working…

Local health and education center highlights importance of high-quality facilities to the success of at-risk children KANSAS CITY, Kan., Aug. 8, 2016 -- When Sen. Pat Roberts sat down with preschoolers today at the Children's Campus of Kansas City (CCKC), he was focused on much more than story time and snacks. The senior senator from Kansas dropped in on the first day of school to learn more about CCKC's model for closing the achievement gap among low-income kids—starting with a unique community facility designed specifically for young learners. CCKC is home to three non-profit organizations that provide a continuum of services focused on the health and wellness of children from birth to age five. That includes nearly 150 preschool students participating in CCKC's Educare program, which lays a strong educational…

Democratic Platform Supports the NMTC [caption id="attachment_7286" align="alignright" width="300"] In Philadelphia, the site of the DNC, the NMTC transformed a former textile mill and warehouse into apartments for teachers and non-profit office space designed for education related firms.[/caption] On Monday, July 25th, delegates at the Democratic National Convention approved a party platform that included several proposals to protect and expand the New Markets Tax Credit: Ending Poverty and Investing in Communities Left Behind: "We will expand and make permanent the New Markets Tax Credit." Building Strong Cities and Metro Areas: "We will support entrepreneurship and small business growth in cities by providing mentoring and training to entrepreneurs and small business owners in underserved communities as well as expanding federal funding for the New Markets Tax Credit, community development financial institutions,…

[caption id="attachment_7149" align="alignnone" width="640"] Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-KS) visits NMTC-financed Payit[/caption] On June 29, 2016, U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins (KS-02), the fifth-highest-ranking member of House Republican leadership and a member of the U.S. Ways and Means Committee, toured Kansas City startup PayIt. PayIt is a cloud-based mobile solutions platform for government, leveraging its technology and insights to rewrite and automate the citizen engagement experience. PayIt’s patent-pending mobile platform brings speed and simplicity to the citizen-government payment processing experience for state and local services, such as the DMV, permits and licensing, turnpike passes, income tax, traffic citations and more. Kansas Transportation Authority recently deployed the PayIt Kansas mobile app, providing K-TAG account users the ability to access and manage their K-TAG account anytime, anywhere, directly from their smartphones. The visit was…